"The image is gone!" says Prunella, gazing into the crystal ball. "I've lost it!"

"Who is it?" asks Sue Ellen. "Who gets hurt?"

Prunella shakes her head in confusion. "I don't know. I think I saw you there, and me, and some other people, and then I saw somebody lying on the ground, covered with blood. I'm pretty sure it will happen tomorrow night, and close to this house."

"See if you can make it appear again," Rubella urges her. "We've got to know what happens!"

Prunella vainly waves her hands over the crystal ball. "I'm not getting anything! It's a complete blank!"

"Sue Ellen, are you sure you want to go trick-or-treating with us after what Prunella has told you?" Rubella asks.

"I'm not afraid," the girl replies. "Besides, I don't have any other kids to go with."

----

In the Read living room, Buster is seated with Arthur and D.W. on the couch. "They're from the planet Glaxidon," he recounts to his friends. "They said they're gonna land in my back yard tomorrow night."

"I think you might have heard something else, Buster," says Arthur skeptically.

"But they called me by name!" Buster insisted. "And I was the only one who could hear them. Muffy didn't hear a thing."

"Are they good aliens or bad aliens?" asks D.W. curiously.

"They didn't say. But I don't think they traveled halfway across the galaxy just to pick a fight with us."

"If you wait in your back yard all night," Arthur points out, "you'll miss the trick-or-treat and Muffy's Tunnel of Terror--not to mention that other thing we're planning to do."

"So what?" says Buster. "This is the event of a lifetime! I've always believed in them, and now they're coming to visit me!"

Begin Buster fantasy sequence.

Buster is sitting on a lawn chair in his back yard. Suddenly he hears a loud whining noise and looks up. Descending from the sky is a spacecraft about the size of Buster's back yard. It lands in front of him as he gazes in wonder. A hatchway opens in the bottom of the ship, and a humanoid creature descends from it. As the creature walks away from the spaceship toward Buster, it increases in size until it is about eight feet tall. Towering above Buster, it extends its hand and spreads its fingers apart in an alien greeting. "Have a wonderful kind of day," it intones. Buster spreads his fingers and attempts to duplicate the alien greeting, but with only partial success.

End Buster fantasy sequence.

"I was gonna ask you how the alien ship can fit in your back yard," says Arthur, "but I see you've already figured that one out."

"What do the aliens want, Buster?" asks D.W.

"I don't know. But if they have the power to travel across the universe, then we probably don't have anything they need. It's more likely that they have something to give to us."

"Maybe they'll solve all the world's problems," D.W. muses.

Begin D.W. fantasy sequence.

We find ourselves in a war zone. Soldiers on both sides have dug trenches and are firing at each other with machine guns. Suddenly an alien ship flies over them, firing waves of energy. The energy waves strike the soldiers and transform their weapons into Mary Moo Cow dolls. The soldiers look at the dolls with curiosity, then one of them starts to cry. "I feel so...so happy!" he gushes.

End D.W. fantasy sequence.

"So, what do you say, Arthur?" asks Buster.

"Uh, I don't know. The aliens haven't spoken to me, so maybe they don't want to see me."

D.W.'s face lights up. "I want to see the aliens!"

"D.W.!" her brother snaps.

D.W. runs into the kitchen, where Mrs. Read is cleaning the oven, and Arthur follows after her. "Mom, can I go with Buster tomorrow night to see the aliens?" she pleads.

Mrs. Read pulls her head out of the oven. "Don't you want to go trick-or-treating, D.W.?"

"I can trick-or-treat next year," says the excited girl. "This year I want to see the aliens!"

"Okay, if that's what you want to do," says her mother. "As long as you don't stay up past your bedtime."

"Mom, don't let her!" Arthur urges.

"Why not?"

"Because...uh...she shouldn't be exposed to extraterrestrials at such a tender age."

"What's extra...extra..." D.W. puzzles.

"Extraterrestrials," explains Mrs. Read. "That means people from outer space."

"You're just using big words so I won't know what you're saying," D.W. accuses Arthur.

"Arthur, if D.W. wants to see the aliens, I don't see why she can't," Mrs. Read opinionates. "It's probably less harmful than eating tons of candy."

"Yay!" D.W. cheers. "I get to see the aliens, I get to see the aliens..."

"Awesome!" exclaims Buster as he walks through the kitchen. "I'll see you tomorrow night, then. Well, I'm on my way to Francine's place to tell her the good news."

"See you later, Buster," says Arthur as his rabbit friend leaves. Turning to his sister, he says, "There aren't any aliens, D.W.. This is just one of Buster's crazy ideas."

"Are you saying Buster's crazy?"

"No, I'm not. Well, maybe he's a little crazy, but I guess we're all a little crazy."

"Then maybe he's telling the truth," says D.W. smugly.

"He isn't," Arthur insists.

"Are you saying Buster's a liar?"

"No, I'm not."

"So if he's not crazy, and he's not a liar, then the aliens must be real! Am I smart for my age, or what?"

"Aaaargh!"

TBC